Unlike 08 numbers, 03 numbers cost the same to call as geographic landline numbers (starting 01 and 02), even from a mobile phone. They are also included as part of inclusive call minutes and discount schemes from all major mobile phone and landline operators.

18 Useful Social Media Tricks To Boost Your SEO Potential

As time goes by there is more and more evidence that social signals are becoming of greater important when it comes to achieving a higher position in SERPs. So how can you leverage Social Media to improve your rankings?

According to Searchmetric’s recent study of SEO ranking factors good activity on social media can earn you better rankings. In addition, the study showed that the higher the number of social signals from the below networks the better the position of your website in SERPs:

Google +1

Facebook Shares

Facebook Total

Facebook Comments

Facebook Likes

Pinterest

Tweets

Even if you are sceptical of the correlation that the social shares directly improved the rankings there’s also the factor that getting more people to see the content also lead to more links and visibility.

Long story short it’s time to get ‘social’ and schedule time for your social media management into your daily diary. It’s essential to ensure that you have a good social presence online by having a high number of Likes, Tweets, Shares and +1’s.

To make it easier for you I have created the following list of super-useful social media tricks to help you boost your social signals with the long term goal of improving rankings.

Top Google+ Tricks

The Searchmetrics study has proven that having a Google+ profile is really a no-brainer as +1 shares scored the highest correlation with good rankings in SERP. Your posts on Google+ are indexed with the ‘speed of light’ which, in some case, can be within minutes of the post being published.

Trick #1 – Get your Google+ settings right

Optimising your tagline, profile image and about section is the first thing you should do on Google+ before sharing anything. In addition, AJ Kohn’s test showed that having a keyword included within the Introduction is the most important signal for Google+ Search results.

Make sure you include your keyword, URL and location within the ‘About’ section:

Trick #2 – Pick the right image for your snippet

When you share your post on Google+ the image in your snippet can make or break the clicks/ shares/ comments your post receives. Conversely, sharing a link which has no snippet image is really a waste of time. Before you hit the ‘Share’ button, hover over the image box and pick the image that is most appropriate for the content.

As AJ Kohn suggests you can always play it safe by including a square image (300×300);

Trick #3 – Format your posts

Unlike other social networks, Google+ allows you to format your posts and make them more visible and scan-able for readers. If you write your status on Google+ with the following symbols on it you’ll see it changes the way the text is shown. Such formatted post are more engaging which in turn can result in more shares.

Bolding: Add asterisks (*) around the words you want to bold, for example: *your text* will appear as your text

Italicising: Add underscores (_) around the word you want to appear in italics; for example: _your text_ will appear as your text

Strikethrough text: Place hyphens around the words you to be strikedthrough; for example: -your text- will appear as your text

Here’s how I use this feature for more emphasis and to drive engagement:

Using asterisks to bold and underscores to italicise:

Using asterisks to bold and hyphens for strike through text:

Trick #4 – Link to your G+ post

Okay, so you’ve shared some interesting posts so now it’s time to cross-promote your post to further strengthen the social signals of it. Click on the arrow next to you post, select the option ‘Link to post’, copy and paste and share on other networks to raise awareness.

Trick #5 – Stay active and re-share, comment and tag people

Don’t be a ‘link litter-er’ who uses Google+ just for sharing your blog posts/ links. If you find something interesting then share it, regardless of who wrote it. Use the comment section and leave your opinion. And don’t forget to tag people if you’re sharing their posts by using ‘+’ . They may follow you and re-share some of your posts in the future.

Top Twitter Tricks

Trick #7 – Settings, settings and settings again!

Here we go again! Include your main keyword and location in the bio. Also, check the setting tab and ensure the location is set correctly and your twitter profile is fully optimised for local search.

Choose your location:

Don’t forget the language and time zone settings. Switch the ‘Tweet location’ to on which will give your tweets the extra local signal.

Trick #8 – Find the best time to tweet

Knowing when the majority of your followers and potential customers are online can increase the chance of your tweet being shared and/or re-tweeted. There are free as well as paid tools, which can help you determine the best time for you to tweet; these include:

Be sure to try these tools and collate the data together to determine the best strategy for you.

Trick #9 – Improve your CTR by tweeting less

Frequency is the key when it comes to the number of clicks you receive via Twitter. Dan Zarrella found out that the less frequently you post a link within an hour the more clicks you earn. So slow down and pace yourself to a maximum of 3 tweets with a link per hour.

Trick #10 – Get more Retweets and shares with the right Calls-To-Actions

As the saying goes, if you don’t ask for it you will never get it. Don’t be afraid of asking people to retweet your post but ensure you type ‘Please ReTweet‘ rather than just ‘Please RT‘ or ‘RT‘.

Dan Zarrella’s research showed that tweets which include the following phrases are very powerful CTA’s on Twitter and lead to more actions:

Please Help

Please ReTweet

Please

Spread

Visit

Just remember not to do this with every post as it will annoy people.

Trick #11 – Get more click by avoiding the use of exclamation points

Exclamation points in your tweets will give you more retweets however less clicks; so if you want people to click on the link within your tweet it’s better if you don’t use and exclamation point!

Trick #12 – THE Position of your link matters

Place your link in about 25% of the way through the tweet as it can earn you more clicks. (source)

Top Pinterest Tricks

Trick #13 – Include the keyword within the image name and title

In term of relevancy of images Pinterest is a better visual search engine than Google. If you don’t believe me have a look at this post which illustrates how greatly Pinterest and Google’s image searches differ.

This ties up with the importance of naming and titling your image so it is easy for users to find and share it. Make sure the name and title include you main keyword and use a hashtag to highlight it in the pin description for better rankings.

Trick #15 – The taller the image, the better

Top Facebook Tricks

Before trying any tricks spend some time on optimising your ‘About’ section as people won’t like your page if it looks empty. Write a compelling introduction; fill in all the information including your address and links to your website, blog or other social media profiles.

Trick #16 – Don’t be boring, be visual!

When it comes to engagement on social media, visual content wins over simple text updates with photos and videos driving the most engagements. Simply Measured Facebook research revealed that:

Photos receive twice as many likes as text updates

Video are shared 12 times more than text updates

However you should make sure you either use creative commons images or images you own.

Trick #17 – Turn your text or idea into a shareable image

As highlighted above, if you want more likes get those images on your wall. Instead of sharing a simple text post with a link back to your blog/website try to turn it into a sharable image. If you don’t know how to do it; here are some tools that will help you do that:

Jing and Snagit (paid) will enable you to take a screen-grab of anything you can see on your display.

Who knows maybe you will be lucky and your image will go viral.

Trick #18 – Use CTAs that work on Facebook

Simples! Tell your fans what to do and they will be much more likely to engage. The following golden CTAs are the ones you should incorporate into your posts to get the required action from your followers:

Like

Comment

Share

However, don’t overdo it by asking fans to do something in every post you publish.

What about you and your social media presence? Do you use any special tricks to increase the number of likes, shares, +1’s and re-tweets? I would love to hear some of your tips and hints.

Share this post

Lenka has a wealth of experience in the creation and management of Social Media, SEO, PPC, and Email Marketing campaigns. She has a strong passion for all things Digital and Sport related; when she's not competing in marathons she can be found blogging about digital marketing in sport.

Your Free Whitepaper

25 Comments

Just to add another one to your “best time to tweet list” it’s a feature of followerwonk, it’ll see when your users are most active, and will even then overwrite your buffer schedule to make sure your buffer tweets are seen by the most people.

Also speaking of ‘please retweet’ and similar things – it really looks weird on corporate accounts. So it’s a good way to increase engagement for personal accounts, but official ones should stay modest and humble.

It’s a great idea to tweet when most of your followers are active, but accounts with followers all over the world need to think about covering all the time zones in a smart way – there are some cases when tweeting around the clock works better, so investigation is a must here=)

What I really like is when guys are tweeting links with their own comments. It’s not always handy, and I don’t do that every time I tweet a link, but seems that many followers appreciate this trick too.

What is more, it’s really useful to test various titles and tweet structures for your Twitter (using bit.ly, or URL parameters – whatever) because you can find out that some really good tips aren’t working for your audience, but several really unexpected methods are great in your particular case!

Thanks a lot, Ksenia! Glad you liked it. Agree with you, international businesses should determine what hours/days work the best for them. And yes, eye-catchy headlines are crucial and companies should certainly test them to find which ones bring the most clicks, etc.

As with Twitter I’d also highlight the importance of knowing when your audience are on Facebook and most likely to engage with your posts. Really get to grips with your Facebook Insights to help identify when this is.

When you’ve put so much effort into creating great content, you want to make sure it’s seen by as many people as possible.

Thank you, Siobhan! Couldn’t agree more with you; get to know your audience through analytics and insights is a must for running a successful campaign. Social Media Today have recently published a video tutorial on Facebook’s new Insights as the new feature will enable you to determine the best time to post on Facebook based on your page analytics.

Some nice and comprehensive tips here. I totally agree about social signals. Personally, that is all I now use to get rankings. Our readers give us the signals, I optimise my posts “on-page”, and the Google Authorships does it’s fair share as well.

What do you think?

Related Posts

In today’s Digital landscape, social media is a great tool for businesses to communicate and build relationships with audiences. In most cases, it has become an essential tool for long terms success and survival, particularly if you’re in a volatile or busy market. To ensure that your business doesn’t drop the ball on Social Media, […]

If your ecommerce business is not utilising social media, it’s time to catch up. There are many brands finding success through social media marketing, growing their communities and seeing significant engagement across the board. Effectively managing your social media platforms allows you to not only promote your products, but also create and monitor conversations with […]

Whether you currently manage a branded social account, or you just post to your personal profiles, staying on-top of the constant updates on social networks can be extremely difficult if you’re underprepared. Whilst it may be a challenge, utilising your social profiles outside of work hours can help boost your business and give your brand […]

Social Media is the king of the Internet. It’s the genesis point of every viral video, meme, every fail and every win witnessed online. It’s where people go to vent frustration, share joy and brag. It’s a very human thing – even though the human element seems masked behind a digital wall. It’s hard to […]

Most of you will have heard of the terminology “black hat” when it comes to either SEO or Digital Marketing in general. But what about when it comes to Social Media? You may not even know if you’re engaging in such activity – so that’s why we want to make you and your business aware […]

If you live in the UK, then today’s a very special day. After months of assiduous debates, media coverage, and political campaigns, election day is finally upon us. Even if you live outside of Britain, chances are you’ve been drawn into the fray due to the blanket coverage these politicians have been receiving. Here in […]

For many businesses, social media is a joyous playground of interactivity, rich with B2C communication and countless acquisition opportunities. However, hidden away in the dark, damp corners of social are the ‘boring’ brands; those businesses with such niche followings that they feel separated from the idea of a social media strategy. This needn’t be the […]

Social Media – still a taboo subject for far too many companies. It’s also often overlooked as a genuine marketing tool. But this needn’t be the case. Social Media is both an effective marketing tool that delivers strong ROI – but only if used correctly. Let’s look into this further.

The entire notion of campaigning has been to engage and increase your audience, so it makes sense that Social Media was a natural platform for charities to utilise. But what effect has it had? How are charities making the most from Social Media, and is there anything else they could be doing to use budgets […]

“Holidays are coming, holidays are coming…” It’s official; Christmas is fast approaching and even if you’re not excited about the holidays just yet, the big brands have been preparing for this moment for months. The festive season is an incredibly important time for brands, both big and small, as are the many other holidays and international events […]

Digital Marketing Ideas Every Month

Sign up to receive our free monthly email. Including our favourite pieces of news from the digital marketing industry.

From SEO to PPC, Social Media to Brand Management and Analytics, we'll keep you informed.